Welt shoe sewing machines



Aug. 11, 1959 L. G. MILLER WELT SHOE SEWING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1" Filed March 18, 1958 In ventor Lloyd Gflliller. B lz s Aug. 11, 1959 L. G. MILLER WELT SHOE SEWING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

Filed March 13, v1956 Inventor Lloyd G Ml/[EI 8 2,898,875 WELT snon SEWING MACHINES Lloyd G. Miller, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 13, 1956, Serial No. 571,203

4 Claims. (Cl. 112-52) The present invention relates to shoe sewing machines, and more particularly to improvements in welt guides similar in some respects to that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,361,279, granted October 24, 1944, upon application of I. P. Fredericksen.

The usual welt guide employed in the commercial form of Goodyear welt shoe sewing machine directs the welt into the sewing point With its inner edge engaging the rib on a last supported insole at a position Where the rib intersects the operating path of a sewing needle in the machine. The other outer edge of the welt is depressed to a position close to a bulging surface of a shoe upper stretched over the last. The welt between its edges is left, as far as possible, in undistorted flat condition, so that little or no friction will occur as it passes through the guide toward the point of attachment with the upper and insole. Along its widthwise dimension, therefore, the welt forms a small acute angle with the shoe upper, which angle is conducive to easy entry of the sewing needle into the welt and to a smooth attachment to a shoe.

While a welt positioned at an acute angle to the shoe upper benefits the sewing operation it tends to cause the welt to become attached to the shoe in the same acute angular relation in which its outer edge is depressed. A welt attached in an acute angular relation to the upper, especially when in tension at the point of attachment is likely to hug the bulging upper of a shoe so tightly that it must be stretched along its outer edge and flattened into the plane of the insole in a separate operation before an outsole may be stitched or cemented to it. The tension in the welt and the resistance which it offers to being stretched and flattened frequently are so great that special treatment is required and the seam connecting it to the other parts may be overstrained. A welt so attached to a shoe is commonly designated as being in strapped condition and is a frequent cause of difliculty in constructing durable and uniformly shaped shoes.

The welt guide of the Fredericksen patent, above referred to, is intended to assist in the attachment of a relatively thin, flexible welt to a shoe in a manner which will prevent the welt from being strapped or being attached in edge tensioned and depressed condition, so that it is possible to maintain it in a desirable flat outflanged position substantially in a plane defined by the bottom of the insole in a shoe without special further treatment. For this purpose the Welt guide is disposed more nearly at the level of the insole rather than at an acute angle thereto, as in previous common practice. The patented welt guide is provided with a welt enclosing portion and an extension running from the Welt enclosing portion in the direction of the completed stitches in the welt attaching seam and between the welt and the upper of a lasted shoe. With the extension of the guide running in this direction, it forms a raised supporting bed for the welt, against which the thrust of the sewing needle is exerted and above which the needle passes during sewing operations. To enable the welt to be engaged readily by the sewing needle when the guide ofthe Fredericksen 2 patent is used, the welt is reduced in thickness to provide a preformed shoulder which is readily penetrated by the needle.

The patented guide is effective for the purpose intended and is more readily useable with thin, flexible welt than with thicker, stiffer Welt. When thicker, stiffer welt is operated upon a further difficulty arises from the necessity for penetrating the welt to a depth adequate for a secure seam and the use of a preformed shoulder in a thicker welt adds stifiness to such welt to such an extent that a shoe containing it after completion still is excessively rigid and has other undesirable features.

To avoid the necessity of using a welt having a preformed shoulder, which causes extra thickness in and imparts excessive stiffness to a welt and to a shoe containing it, attempts have heretofore been made to construct a guide with an angular confining slot for bending the welt in a widthwise direction just before it reaches the sewing point, whereby an outflanged condition is obtained to bring the main extent of its width substantially into the plane of the shoe insole.v By forming the guide with an angular welt confining slot, the apex of the angle in the slot acts to bend up the inner edge of the welt into a position where it may be penetrated to the proper depth by the needle. However, when a relatively stiff welt is directed through an angularly slotted guide, heavy frictional tension is imparted to the welt as the result of its resistance to being bent into conformity with the angular slot. Accordingly, the benefit obtained in forming a needle engaging shoulder portion on the welt while the main body of the welt remains outflanged, is oifset and the tension produced as the welt is being drawn through the guide, alone is sufficient to cause the welt to strap against the bulging upper, especially at the toe of the shoe.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a welt guide, which not only assists in the attachment of a relatively thick, stilf flat welt to a shoe without the necessity of forming the guide with an angular Welt confining slot, but also insures the attachment of such welt with its free outer edge outflanged in a desirable manner and with its main body projecting at the same level as the tread surface of the shoe insole. To this end, the illustrated machine is provided with the usual stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle and an improved welt guide constructed with a relatively narrow integral welt deflecting finger extending from the guide in the direction of the completed stitches inserted by the machine substantially beyond the sewing point and running between that portion of the welt already attached to the shoe and upper to raise the welt about the completed stitches as a hinge to a position at least level with the upper surface of the insole while leaving the outer edge of the welt directly opposite the point of sewing operations in the usual depressed position and inclined at a small acute angle with relation to the shoe upper, where the needle may enter readily and uniformly into a suitably deep penetrating position with the inner Welt edge. Preferably, the welt deflecting finger is bent upwardly to raise the welt from a lower level assumed by the welt engaging surface of the guide to a position above the level of the insole. Any friction existing between the welt and the guide occurs along the deflecting finger at a location beyond the point of welt attachment and thus does not affect appreciably the tension at or in advance of the point of attachment. In this'way the welt is attached to the shoe while in flat untensioned condition and the curvature of the free edge of the welt causes the inner edge of thewelt at the point of its attachment to be compressed lengthwise more or less.

The action of the welt deflecting finger is to twist the welt'about its 'inner edge, which is attached to the shoe producing a wave-like shape along its free outer edge 3 rather than bending it in a widthwise direction to form a lengthwise trough during sewing, as has previously been attempted. With such guide construction it has been found that the welt is drawn freely through the guide without causing other undesirable effects.

These and other features of the invention, as hereinafter described and claimed, will become apparent from the following detailed specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in left side elevation of a portion of a welt shoe inseam sewing machine embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail view in front elevation on an enlarged scale, partly broken away and in section, of a needle, a thread finger and the improved Welt guide of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view of the parts shown in Fig. 2 together with a portion of a channel guide, a back gage and a lasted shoe being sewn on the machine;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same parts;

Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective view on a further enlarged scale of the welt guide showing the manner of its adjustment on the machine;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view in front elevation of some of the same parts, taken along the line VIVI of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional side view of a portion of a shoe taken along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6, showing the position to which the welt is raised by the deflecting finger of the improved guide.

The machine in which the novel welt guide is illustrated is similar to that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,108,560, granted August 25, 1914, upon application of A. Eppler, and No. 1,971,575, granted August 28, 1934, upon application of A. R. Morrill. The machine is provided with a curved hook work feeding needle 2, a looper 4, a thread finger 6, a curved awl 8, a channel guide 10, a back rest 12 and a welt guide 14, the construction and mode of operation of its parts'being substantially the same as in the machine of the Eppler and Morrill patents just noted.

The shoe intended to be operated uponby the illustrated machine is of the well known Goodyear welt construction provided with a ribbed insole 16, an upper 18, and a welt 20, the upper and insole being conformed to a last 22 and the welt being attached to the upper and lip of the insole by stitches passing through one edge of the welt and the other parts. The stitches which form the attachment are indicated at 24 and are of chain stitch form acting when tightened to bend the inner marginal portion of the welt toward the remainder of its width- Wise extent and to draw the margin of the upper into conformity with an angle between the lip and feather of the insole 16 (see Fig. 3). To insure engagement and proper entry of the needle into the welt at a uniform distance from its inner edge, which is to be attached to the shoe, the welt is provided with a conventional stitch receiving groove 26 (Fig. 4) and is supported in the guide with the groove 26 intersecting a curved path described by the needle. The needle is thus caused to penetrate the welt with certainty within the groove and the welt is bent widthwise along the groove into the desired position on the upper (see Fig. 7). However, the welt is not bent Widthwise until after the stitches are tightened so that unless the welt is supported while still in flattened condition at a substantial angle to the path of the needle, the needle may not enter the groove with certainty or penetrate sufliciently deeply into the welt to form a secure line of attachment. If the flattened welt is supported in an ample angular relationship to the needle path to insure proper penetration, it assumes a position with its free edge hugging the bulging upper and it becomes attached to the shoe in this same relationship, tending to cause it to become strapped and bent downwardly into close contact with the shoe upper, particularly around the toe of the s cc.

To avoid the tendency for a flat welt to become attached to a shoe in strapped condition, while at the same time enabling easy entry of the needle into the sewing groove of the welt without requiring the use of a guide having a preformed angular slot, according to the present invention, a novel guide is provided which is unusually well fitted for this purpose. The novel guide is formed from a doubled over strip 28 of sheet metal having a central reverse bend 30, a needle receiving slot 32 entering the doubled-over strip from the side of the needle facing the completed stitches of a seam being inserted and a welt deflecting finger 34.

The welt deflecting finger 34 is narrow relatively to its length and extends horizontally from the guide between the welt running from the guide and the upper of the shoe being operated upon in the direction of work feed and upwardly above the welt engaging the guide opposite the sewing point. The finger 34 acts on the welt to raise its outer edge to a position at least level with, and preferably above a plane defined by the outer tread surface of the insole 16, as indicated by the dot-dash line 36 in Fig. 7 of the drawings. The action of the welt deflecting finger is to twist the welt about a lengthwise axis running, through the line of the seam being inserted, substantially beyond the point at which the needle operates, causing the free outer edge of the welt to bulge upwardly opposite that portion of the inner edge already attached to the shoe, while leaving the outer portion of the welt opposite the sewing point in its preferred depressed flat condition closely hugging the bulging last supported surface of the shoe upper. The welt therefore is supported by the main portion of the guide in a position where it is intersected by the needle most effectively at the sewing point and a strapped condition is avoided by bending the welt upwardly along its free outer edge beyond the sewing point. Bending the welt upwardly beyond the sewing point tends to stretch its outer edge, the stretching tension in which is transferred through the guide and is absorbed in compressing the inner edge of the welt in advance of the sewing point. After moving beyond the welt deflecting finger the tension in the outer edge of the welt is relieved and the Welt assumes a desirable outflanged position, which under many conditions requires no further treatment before attaching an outsole to the shoe.

In order to insure that the outer edge of the welt will be held depressed opposite the sewing point of the machine, so that the needle may penetrate the welt to the proper depth, the guide strip 28 has disposed between its doubled over portions an edge gage 37 having a slotted shank and an enlarged welt engaging head. The welt engaging head of the edge gage 37 is located partly between the doubled over portions of the strip 28 and partly outside at the left of the doubled over portions of the guide, between the main body of the guide and the welt deflecting finger 34. Outside the doubled over portions of the guide strip 28 the edge gage is formed with a lip 38 extending in the direction of feed along the finger 34, and overlying the flesh surface of a welt running from the guide toward the shoe. The lip 38 holds the outer edge of the welt opposite the sewing point depressed below the level of the sole member, so that all of the upward deflection occurring in the welt is limited to that portion running between the lip 38 and the finger 34. The edge gage 37 also forces the welt forwardly in the guide and crowds it into the central bend 30 of the doubled over guide strip 28.

To prevent displacement of the inner edge of the welt from the path of the needle as the threaded needle retracts, the central bend 30 of the guide has a welt edge engaging flange portion 40 overlying the upper flesh surface of the welt inside the path described by the needle. The flange portion 40 extends from the guide along the seam line in the direction of work feed and along the border of the needle receiving slot 32 substantially beyond the point at which the needle operates, thus keeping the welt under control at its inner edge for a substantial distance beyond the point of needle operation.

To clear the needle and to enable the shoe to be fed as the seam progresses, the needle receiving slot 32 has its opening facing the direction of work feed and the lower edge of the slot is formed by the forward edge of the welt deflecting finger 34.

To secure the guide strip 28 and the edge gage to the machine the guide strip surrounds a flanged mounting block 42 through a central perforation in which passes a common clamp bolt 44. The clamp bolt 44 also passes through openings in the doubled over portions of the strip 28 and the slot in the edge gage 37. The mounting block 42 has projecting from one side an integral spindle 46 secured within a clamp 48, in turn mounted on a welt guide carrier 50 (Fig. 1) similar to that disclosed in the Eppler and Merrill patents above noted.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described what is claimed is:

1. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and sole member presented in sole uppermost position, said machine having stitchforming devices including a curved work feeding hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet metal, in combination with means to insure attachment of the welt with its inner edge compressed in a lengthwise direction, including an integral welt engaging and deflecting finger extending upwardly from the welt guide across its exit and beyond the sewing point between a welt running from the guide and the upper of a shoe to which the welt is attached to engage the underside of the welt and to raise its outer edge to a position at least level with the outer tread surface of the sole member on the shoe and a welt-engaging flange extending from the guide in the direction of feed and overlying the upper surface of the welt inside a path described by the needle.

2. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and sole member presented in sole uppermost position, said machine having stitchforming and work feeding devices including a curved hook needle arranged to oscillate in a curved path and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet metal, in combination with means to insure attachment of the welt with its inner edge compressed in a lengthwise direction, including an integral welt engaging and deflecting finger extending upwardly from the welt guide across its exit and beyond the sewing point between a weft running from the guide and the upper of a shoe to which the welt is attached to engage the underside of the welt opposite the sewing point and to raise the outer edge,

and a welt engaging flange portion of the guide overlying the upper surface of the welt inside the path described by the needle and extending from the guide along the seam line in the direction of feed substantially beyond the point at which the needle operates.

3. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and sole member presented in sole uppermost position, said machine having stitchforming and work feeding devices including a curved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet metal, in combination with means to insure attachment of the welt with its inner edge compressed in a lengthwise direction, including an integral welt engaging and deflecting finger extending upwardly from the welt guide across its exit and beyond the sewing point between a welt running from the guide and the upper of a shoe to which the welt is attached to engage and to raise its outer edge to a position at least level with the outer tread surface of the sole member on the shoe, and an adjustable edge gage formed with a lip extending toward the finger and overlying the upper surface of the welt running from the guide to hold the free edge of the welt beyond the guide below the level of the sole member before the welt reaches the finger.

4. A machine for attaching a welt to a last supported Goodyear welt shoe upper and sole member presented In sole uppermost position, said machine having stitchforming and work feeding devices including a curved hook needle and a welt guide formed of a doubled-over strip of sheet metal, in combination with means to insure attachment of the welt with its inner edge compressed in a lengthwise direction, including an integral welt engagmg and deflecting finger extending upwardly from the welt guide across its exit and beyond the sewing point between a welt running from the guide and the upper of a shoe to which the welt is attached, a welt engaging flange portion of the guide overlying the upper surface of the welt inside a path described by the needle and extending from the guide along the seam line in the directlon of work feed substantially beyond the point at which the needle operates, and an adjustable welt edge gage the guide formed with a lip extending from the guide 1n the direction of the finger and overlying the upper surface of the welt running from the guide toward the shoe to hold its free edge beyond the guide below til: level of the sole member before the welt reaches the ger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 894,989 Thompson Aug. 4, 1908 2,509,221 Fredericksen May 30, 1950 

